Kansas City’s Run Offense Needs Mahomes
Mahomes’ injury came midway through the second quarter on Thursday night after a 2-yard QB sneak. After that point, K.C. was only able to rush for 40 yards through 2.5 quarters. In a game where the Chiefs had the advantage on the board, this is an extremely low number, even for Andy Reid‘s pass heavy system.
Once Mahomes left the game, the Broncos were able to stack the box and take away the Chiefs’ ability to run the ball. Without the ability to run the ball, the Chiefs were forced to rely on a QB who had three reps with the first team offense ever, so Denver knew eliminating LeSean McCoy’s ability to gain yards was the best bet on Thursday.
But what happens after Matt Moore is given time in practice to work with the first team offense? Could the Chiefs running game take shape when Green Bay comes to Arrowhead on Sunday?
The answer is maybe, but not likely.
The Chiefs’ offense is centered around Patrick Mahomes skill set: his accuracy and strength when throwing the ball and his mobility to extend the play. Andy Reid capitalizes on these sklls by building the playbook out of bootlegs, RPOs, and intermediate routes that demand adept QB accuracy. Most of K.C.’s runs become available due to the offense being able to establish the RPO and bootleg pass.
That is not Matt Moore’s skill set however. Moore tends to stay in the pocket, throws with varying levels of accuracy, and does not have the arm strength to reliably throw the quick short passes that are necessary for the RPO.
Without the ability to aggressively run the RPO, K.C. is going to struggle running the ball. Defenses will not hesitate crashing the line when Matt Moore looks to hand the ball off, and cornerbacks will come crashing the outsides to prevent McCoy from bouncing to the outside.